If you are from Southern Ontario or have family who lived in the area, there’s a good chance that you know about Bob-Lo Island. However, for others, learning about this small island on the Detroit River might offer new and interesting insights into the region’s history.
Photo by Bob-Lo Island via Facebook
Historically, Bob-Lo Island (officially known as Bois Blanc Island) served as an important strategic and navigational point in the area where the Detroit River reaches Lake Erie. Set across from Fort Malden and the town of Amherstburg, Ont., it was known as a crossing point, meeting place, and important military site. Before Europeans arrived, it was home to the Three Fires Confederacy First Nations, comprised of the Ojibway, Odawa, and Potawatomie peoples, who inhabited the region. The island played a prominent role during the War of 1812 and was the site of activities during the Rebellion of 1838. It also acted as a crossing point on the Underground Railroad.
Many current and former residents and visitors will also recall Bob-Lo Island for being home to an amusement park that operated from 1898 until its closure in 1993. Ask those who grew up in the area, and it seems many have stories about summer days spent at the Bob-Lo Island Amusement Park. Those who experienced the park may recall a favourite ride or seeing the iconic Bob-Lo Boats travelling the river carrying visitors from Detroit to the island. It’s clear that the park left a lasting impression, although not always a positive one; segregation and racism are a part of the history as well. After the Bob-Lo steamship company denied passage to Sarah Elizabeth Ray, a Black secretarial graduate (and future civil rights activist) planning to go to the island with her classmates, Ray filed a criminal complaint alongside the NAACP. The courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, ruled in her favour, which became a significant precedent for future civil rights cases.
Photo by Bob-Lo Island via Facebook
Evidence of Bob-Lo’s past can still be found on the island today. The Bois Blanc Island Lighthouse and Blockhouse National Historic Site of Canada have been designated as federal heritage sites, and the blockhouse underwent restorations by the island’s private owner in 2010. The dance hall from the amusement park days also remains.
Photo by Bob-Lo Island via Facebook
Today, Bob-Lo Island is privately owned and is being developed into a residential community. The island is accessible via a short ferry ride from Amherstburg, but it’s currently only open to residents and guests.There’s a marina, wooded areas, beaches and the historical sites, which makes Bob-Lo Island an appealing destination. If the island reopens to the public, which seems to be the plan, it will become a fun day trip location once again.
An oversized Easter egg, coins as big as houses, the world’s largest T.rex; Canadian towns and cities have their fair share of unique roadside attractions, and Kenora, Ont. is one of them.
At 12-metres tall, Kenora’s Husky the Muskie is the largest fish statue in Canada, however, the world title belongs to Wisconsin’s 12-metre-tall and 43-metre-long fibreglass muskie. Kenora’s homage to the fish has stood at the west end of the city in McLeod Park since it was unveiled on July 1, 1967, delighting tourists and serving as a photo-op for 55 years.
But over time, the statue has eroded. That’s why the Ministry of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources, and Forestry announced on March 11 that through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation (NOHFC), it would provide the City of Kenora with $493,077 to restore Husky the Muskie to its former glory and refurbish McLeod Park with upgrades and new attractions, including a playground, picnic area, fishing pier, and amphitheatre.
“Today’s announcement boosts regional employment, attracts more visitors, and reignites Kenora’s sense of community and pride of place while ensuring Husky the Muskie remains a beloved mascot, tourist attraction, and ambassador for preventing water pollution,” said Lisa MacLeod, Ontario Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism, and Culture Industries in a press release.
As MacLeod mentioned, Husky the Muskie has long been tied to Kenora’s identity. The city constructed the statue, in part, to celebrate Canada’s centennial, but also to draw in tourists. In 1949, the federal government passed the Trans Canada Highway Act, determined to connect the country from coast-to-coast. Prior to this, large swaths of Canada weren’t connected by road.
In 1962, the Canadian government completed the project, allowing people to drive from British Columbia to the Maritimes uninterrupted. This meant there were a lot more people driving through local towns and cities. To take advantage of the tourism boom, local governments scrambled to erect giant statues and attractions designed to draw visitors in and explore the local businesses.
As it happens, one of the highways—Highway 17, to be exact—ran right through Kenora, and the city wanted a slice of the action. Giant geese, life-sized mammoths, even an exaggerated lawnmower, were popping up in cities around Kenora. To stay competitive, the city’s chamber of commerce started discussions about building their own roadside attraction in 1963.
Chaired by Marc Marcino, the committee settled on a statue of a muskie. “The Muskie is considered a prize fish. It’s been called the fish of 10,000 casts because it’s a challenge to catch them,” explained Lori Nelson, director of The Muse, a museum and art gallery devoted to the Lake of the Woods. “[Marc’s] thinking was that he considered Kenora a prize town, so how better to represent it than with a prize fish.”
The committee raised $5,000 in donations and commissioned Bob Selway and Jules Horvath of Deluxe Signs and Displays to construct the statue. At one time, there were thoughts of having the statue emerge from the waters of Kenora Bay, but this idea was scrapped.
The statue was composed of a steel beam with a plywood shell, covered with wire mesh. Over the wire mesh was a malleable foam that helped give the muskie its shape. Finally, the structure was encased in multiple layers of tinted fibreglass, Nelson says.
Before the unveiling, the Chamber of Commerce solicited the public for a name. In response, they received everything from Leaping Lizzie to Peter the Pike to Moe. Bill Brabrooke submitted the winning suggestion with the slogan: “Husky the Muskie says Prevent Water Pollution.”
The statue was a hit, establishing Kenora as a must-stop on the tourist roadmap. “Every person travelling by car across Canada must pass our symbol,” Marcino was quoted as saying.
Husky the Muskie has remained a key piece in Kenora’s tourism strategy. In 1995, Ross Kehl of Perma-Flex Systems restored the statue after the colour faded and the fibreglass cracked. The latest restoration aims to reaffirm Kenora as a tourism hotspot.
One of the best things about being at the cottage is that it makes all those big problems you left back home feel small. When you’re at the lake, your inbox doesn’t seem so unwieldy, your deadlines don’t feel so imminent, and your minor squabbles become forgivable and forgettable. And while the fresh air and loon calls certainly play a role, we suspect it’s the endless starry sky—something you never see above city lights—that shrinks all of those troubles.
But there’s an art to fully appreciating the stars above the lake. To get it right—and create an unforgettable experience for you and your family the next time you rent a cottage through Vrbo—follow these tips.
Don’t arrive early
Like a headlining band, the stars don’t hit the stage until way past bedtime, so plan to stay out late. If you’ve got kiddos in your troop, it’s tough to jettison their sleep schedule, but if there were ever a time to upend their routine, it would be a clear night at the cottage. For the best show during summer months, you’ll need to wait until past 11 p.m., so bring some midnight snacks in case the kids get cranky.
Find a clearing
You might not want to venture too far away from the cottage at night, but try to find an open area with no obstructions to the skyline. The dark silhouette of pines might look lovely against the night sky, but they’ll block your panoramic view of the stars. If you can stargaze from a beach, you’re all set.
Lights out—all of them
The woods are lovely, dark, and deep—but only if you ditch those LEDs and extinguish your campfire embers. If you’re close to your cottage, even a sliver of light shining through the bathroom window can dull the dazzle of the stars, so make sure you commit to a total blackout.
Bring your binoculars
Sure, dragging a telescope out into the brush will yield the best results, but you’d be surprised how much your bird-watching binoculars can enhance the stargazing experience. Not only are they easy to pass around among the group, but most will be powerful enough to help you spot the moon’s craters.
Give it time
If you’re spooked by the rustling in the bush—or worse, by the din of mosquitos beyond the campfire—then you might be eager to make it a quick viewing. But walking to the edge of your deck and then disappearing back into your brightly lit cottage won’t cut if you want to experience the starry splendour. Why? Because your eyes need to get used to that wonderful darkness. Once every light is off, give your eyes up to 15 minutes to adjust, and, as Gord Downie sang, the constellations will reveal themselves one star at a time.
Know what to look for
Speaking of constellations, sailors used them for centuries to explore the globe, but you don’t need a navigator’s knowledge to spot a few of the key summer clusters—and impress your starstruck companions. Start small with the Big Dipper and Orion, whom you can locate by finding the three prominent stars of his belt. Beyond the constellations, you might be lucky enough to spot cosmic dust set ablaze in our atmosphere (otherwise known as a shooting star). And if you’re stargazing in mid-August, you may be treated to the Perseids, a meteor shower in which scores of shooting stars race across the sky.
National Geographic once said that Grand Bend, Ont. has one of the most stunning sunsets in the world, but that’s not all it has to offer. Located on the southern shores of Lake Huron, it’s a two-and-a-half-hour drive from Toronto.
Whether you’re looking to swim, parasail, wakeboard, or just relax in the sand, Grand Bend has one of the best beaches in the country. In fact, Grand Bend’s main beach is one of only 23 beaches in Canada to have earned Blue Flag status, an international certification given to beaches that meet environmental, safety, and cleanliness standards.
If water isn’t your thing, hike through Pinery Provincial Park, hit up Sand Hills Golf Club for a round of 18, window shop in nearby galleries and boutiques, or give skydiving a try. There’s something for everyone.
Photo by VRBO/Ken Stronach
Black Bear Cabin
Photo by VRBO/Ken Stronach
Black Bear Cabin
Photo by VRBO/Ken Stronach
Black Bear Cabin
Photo by VRBO/Ken Stronach
Black Bear Cabin
Photo by VRBO/Ken Stronach
Black Bear Cabin
Photo by VRBO/Ken Stronach
Black Bear Cabin
Located in the gated community of Beach O’ Pines, this three-bedroom, Grand Bend cottage is nestled right next to the trails of Pinery Provincial Park and is only a two-minute walk to a private, white sand beach.
Surrounded by Carolinian forest, this Grand Bend cottage’s cedar walls give it a lodge-like feel. Grand Bend Beach is only a three-minute walk away, and it’s a quick drive to nearby attractions, such as Dark Horse Estate Winery and the Huron County Playhouse.
Offering a scenic forest view, this oak-tree-surrounded cottage is located on the edge of Pinery Provincial Park, and is a two-minute walk to the Old Ausable River Channel and 15 minutes to a private beach.
Located in a gated community, this cottage comes with a private garden, an outdoor shower, and a playset for kids. The property is a short walk from the shops and restaurants of downtown Grand Bend, as well as the sandy beaches of Lake Huron.
Surrounded by the forest that borders Pinery Provincial Park, this cottage offers is a private getaway. Plus, the beach is a short walk away. Take advantage of the towels and beach chairs provided by the host, and transport them in your own beach wagon.
A sure sign of spring is a Western meadowlark perched on a post and singing its lungs out. Well, not really, because bird lungs are small, rigid, and very different than mammal lungs. But you get it. As soon as the snow melts, male meadowlarks return to their spring and summer homes in the prairies and B.C. after having spent the winter in the southern U.S. and parts of Mexico.
When do the female birds return north?
Female meadowlarks don’t show up on the breeding scene for at least another two weeks. They have the same unmistakable plumage as their male counterparts: a bright yellow breast and throat with a black V-shaped marking—a little like a cravat—around the neck. But a male meadowlark starts singing as soon as he gets home. He needs time to establish a breeding territory before the ladies arrive.
What does the meadowlark sound like?
Each male bird has a playbook of up to 12 slightly different flute-like melodies. Sometimes, two males will try to out-sing each other by matching their tunes. Their voices are audible from about 400 metres away (not bad for a bird the same size as a robin). A female will pick the best singer, and the two hook up within minutes, then mate multiple times over the next couple of weeks as she builds a nest. When you know, you know, right?
Meadowlarks usually nest twice in one season—one male pairs with two females. Even though it’s the lady bird that builds the nursery, a simple, grass-lined bowl, sometimes covered by a waterproof “dome,” Dad helps with childcare. Once the brood of five or six hatches, he’ll periodically bring food and stick around to chase away intruders. Careful, though, if you intrude on a meadowlark nest. Back away! The birds aren’t bold enough to attempt to scare away a human interloper, and they might abandon the babies.
This summer, a fox had been coming unusually close to our cottage (and we had been shooing him away). We leave our flip-flops on our deck. One morning, we found many of the flip-flops gone. They were scattered all around the property, and some went missing entirely. Is it possible that the fox was the perpetrator?—Andy Cloutier, McKay Lake, Ont.
Yes. And actually, Occam’s Razor says “probably.” Sure, one of your neighbours could have been messing with you, but “foxes have a reputation for stealing shoes,” says wildlife expert Kim Cabrera of the International Society of Professional Trackers. (Last summer, a fox in Berlin was found with more than 100 shoes in its den. Mostly Crocs. Since foxes can neither apply for credit cards nor shop online, we assume the entire stash was stolen.)
Why snatch footwear? There are theories. “They seem to take items with an odour,” says Fiona Reid, the author of the Peterson Field Guide to Mammals of North America, who’s witnessed a fox scampering away with a stinky pillowcase.
They could also like playing with shoes—that would explain why your flip-flops were scattered around the property. And shoes make for good teaching tools; adult foxes may take them back to their dens for their offspring. Look, Fox Junior! This is how you kill a bunny rabbit! “I’d expect that more with leather shoes than Crocs, but I guess anything that can be tossed in the air and chewed could work,” says Reid.
Since you never caught the thief in the act, we can’t be certain that your loitering fox was to blame. Still. Don’t leave any Air Jordans on the deck next summer.
This article was originally published in the Winter 2021 issue of Cottage Life magazine.
Got a question for Cottage Q&A? Send it to answers@cottagelife.com.
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Oil and gas, mining, and hydroelectric projects have brought unprecedented prosperity to Newfoundland and Labrador, including the Avalon Peninsula region of the province. Couple that with the influx of buyers from other provinces due to the COVID-19 pandemic and you’ve got a booming real estate market. Locals have traditionally looked for cabins on “ponds” (lakes). A number of these are concentrated along Route 90, known as the Salmonier Line, running southwest from St. John’s. Rudimentary cabins can still be found and are relatively affordable. Oceanfront is another story. There’s high demand for older saltbox dwellings on the water. Demand has also spurred new cottage development.
There are popular beaches around Bay Roberts and Carbonear, on Conception Bay, although icebergs in the spring discourage swimming until later in the season. If beaches are not a priority, there are cheaper properties or plots of land farther south on the Avalon in communities such as Trepassey or St. Bride’s. Heading north, the Avalon’s spectacular coastal cliffs resemble some of Ireland’s most dramatic coastline. Irish tradition runs strong here, with accordion and fiddle music frequently heard at impromptu kitchen parties.
The stone hearth at Tom Clark’s Bruce Beach, Ont., cottage has presided over four generations of family history—raucous card games, fishing tales, even the anxious war years before Tom’s time, when his father was overseas. “Those were the only summers at the cottage my father ever missed,” says Tom, a Texan whose own northern pilgrimage has also been disrupted, this time by COVID.
But the sands of time—or to be more exact, the chimney’s shifting foundation—haven’t been kind to the structure that Tom’s great-grandfather built in 1922.
Masonry chimnies like this one are beautiful but lose marks for their lack of insulation, inefficiency, and the fact that they require more maintenance. The best way forward may be replacing the whole structure. Or to preserve it, install a cast-iron EPA-certified insert, and add a stainless-steel flue liner. Photo by Erin Leydon.
Now it’s Bruce Beach’s own Leaning Tower.“It has moved seven inches in my lifetime,” Tom says. Not only that but the chimney is leaning on the cottage frame, so “the floor is stressed, the door is stressed, the ceiling, the roof, they’re all stressed.” Tom is stressed too. “We don’t want to reach the level of risk where it could fall on someone.”
That’s the thing about chimneys—they’re the quiet types that you never expect to act out. “People think of the chimney as a simple exhaust system, but it’s more than that,” says John Gulland, one of the originators of Canada’s Wood Energy Technical Training (WETT). Chimneys are among the hardest-working structures in the cottage—“the engine that drives the wood-heating system,” as Gulland puts it.
Chimneys whisk smoke up and away, shield the cottage from toxic combustion gases and dangerous heat, and supply the all-important draft for efficient burning. But they’re also exposed to extreme temperatures, corrosive condensation, stormy weather, and red squirrels. Before your chimney blows its top or keels over, plan an intervention. Show it some love.
Get to know your inner chimney
With a roar like a jet engine, fire shooting out over the roof, and combustion so intense that stovepipes glow red and shake, the classic cottage chimney fire “is incredibly scary when it happens,” says Jon Pegg, the fire marshal for the province of Ontario. And it happens often enough: almost 19 per cent of Ontario cottage fires between 2015 and 2019 involved woodstoves, fireplaces, chimneys, and a statistical category including hot ashes, embers, and sparks.
While smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and a cottage fire escape plan are must-haves, so is checking your chimney for creosote, the tarry remnant of incomplete combustion that fuels chimney fires, and soot, the flammable residue of unburned carbon (see “Worried about creosote? Here’s what to look for”). Because creosote bungs up a flue the way cholesterol clogs arteries, the fire code mandates an annual chimney checkup—“whoo-hoo,” you’re probably saying, “another seasonal rite of cottaging”—as well as after a chimney fire, and when a new woodstove, fireplace, or fireplace insert is installed.
Dryden Fire Service fire prevention officer Jadie Scaman says the fire code doesn’t specify who must do the inspection. Some insurers require occasional WETT inspections, but in practice many “annual inspections” are probably conducted by cottagers when they clean their chimneys. Nevertheless, it’s a good idea to have a WETT-trained inspector or chimney sweep in to check the system. “These are technical issues, so hiring a WETT-certified technician is the best bet,” Scaman says.
To keep your insurer happy (and meet the fire code) you should also hold onto inspection reports for two years. At the very least, if you’re checking your own chimney, snap a dated photo of the interior of the flue (the metal pipe or clay liner that conveys smoke up the chimney).
On top of all that, clean your flue whenever there’s more than three millimetres of soot or creosote—the thickness of just three or four stacked dimes. How are you going to know when you’ve got 40 cents of creosote? You’ve got to look.
If you can safely get on the roof, unscrew the chimney cap and peek Santa-style from the top with a flashlight, eyeing the edge of the flue pipe or liner to gauge the thickness of the creosote. Creosote deposits tend to be thicker near the top of the chimney, where suspended tar is more likely to cool and condense, so the advantage of looking from the top is that you’re seeing what’s likely the worst part of the system. If you’ve got a straight shot sightline in your chimney, from ground level you can look up through a conventional fireplace through the cleanout on a masonry chimney, or by removing stovepipes, or opening the inspection port on a metal chimney. You may also be able to look up through the appliance itself when the upper baffle is removed (check your manual or consult with your stove retailer—not all units permit this). Lower reaches tend to be hotter and cleaner, so if you have creosote plastered inside your stovepipe, you’ve probably got a bigger problem higher up.
Monitoring creosote is especially important for wood-burning newbies, or cottagers who’ve bought a new stove and are learning how to operate it. Creosote is your wood-burning “report card”: too much, and you’re doing something wrong with the stove, or burning wet wood. Once you get the hang of it, and if you’ve got a good installation and an efficient stove, an annual cleaning should be sufficient.
Use a flashlight and mirror to see around corners, or go high-tech: “I use my iPhone and take a shot right up the chimney for my customer,” says Sean Mason, a second-generation chimney sweep and the owner of Brent Mason Chimney Cleaning in Sudbury, Ont.
With a roar like a jet engine, fire shooting out over the roof, and combustion so intense that stovepipes glow red and shake, the classic cottage chimney fire “is incredibly scary when it happens,” says Jon Pegg, the fire marshal for the province of Ontario. And it happens often enough: almost 19 per cent of Ontario cottage fires between 2015 and 2019 involved woodstoves, fireplaces, chimneys, and a statistical category including hot ashes, embers, and sparks.
While smoke and carbon monoxide alarms and a cottage fire escape plan are must-haves, so is checking your chimney for creosote, the tarry remnant of incomplete combustion that fuels chimney fires, and soot, the flammable residue of unburned carbon (see “Worried about creosote?”). Because creosote bungs up a flue the way cholesterol clogs arteries, the fire code mandates an annual chimney checkup—“whoo-hoo,” you’re probably saying, “another seasonal rite of cottaging”—as well as after a chimney fire, and when a new woodstove, fireplace, or fireplace insert is installed.
Dryden Fire Service fire prevention officer Jadie Scaman says the fire code doesn’t specify who must do the inspection. Some insurers require occasional WETT inspections, but in practice many “annual inspections” are probably conducted by cottagers when they clean their chimneys. Nevertheless, it’s a good idea to have a WETT-trained inspector or chimney sweep in to check the system. “These are technical issues, so hiring a WETT-certified technician is the best bet,” Scaman says.
To keep your insurer happy (and meet the fire code) you should also hold onto inspection reports for two years. At the very least, if you’re checking your own chimney, snap a dated photo of the interior of the flue (the metal pipe or clay liner that conveys smoke up the chimney).
On top of all that, clean your flue whenever there’s more than three millimetres of soot or creosote—the thickness of just three or four stacked dimes. How are you going to know when you’ve got 40 cents of creosote? You’ve got to look.
If you can safely get on the roof, unscrew the chimney cap and peek Santa-style from the top with a flashlight, eyeing the edge of the flue pipe or liner to gauge the thickness of the creosote. Creosote deposits tend to be thicker near the top of the chimney, where suspended tar is more likely to cool and condense, so the advantage of looking from the top is that you’re seeing what’s likely the worst part of the system. If you’ve got a straight shot sightline in your chimney, from ground level you can look up through a conventional fireplace through the cleanout on a masonry chimney, or by removing stovepipes, or opening the inspection port on a metal chimney. You may also be able to look up through the appliance itself when the upper baffle is removed (check your manual or consult with your stove retailer—not all units permit this). Lower reaches tend to be hotter and cleaner, so if you have creosote plastered inside your stovepipe, you’ve probably got a bigger problem higher up.
Monitoring creosote is especially important for wood-burning newbies, or cottagers who’ve bought a new stove and are learning how to operate it. Creosote is your wood-burning “report card”: too much, and you’re doing something wrong with the stove, or burning wet wood. Once you get the hang of it, and if you’ve got a good installation and an efficient stove, an annual cleaning should be sufficient.
Worried about creosote? Here’s what to look for
Use a flashlight and mirror to see around corners, or go high-tech: “I use my iPhone and take a shot right up the chimney for my customer,” says Sean Mason, a second-generation chimney sweep and the owner of Brent Mason Chimney Cleaning in Sudbury, Ont.
Seek liner wholeness
Fragile clay liners are “the most vulnerable part of masonry chimneys,” John Gulland says. Whether the flue is metal or clay, eye it for gaps, cracks, or holes after cleaning. (The classic hack is lowering an automotive trouble light—a bulb in a protective cage on a long cord—but a powerful battery-powered LED lantern would work too.) Cracks caused by high heat can allow a flammable mix of creosote and water to seep into the bricks and mortar, leaving telltale dark stains.
Replace liners that are broken, cracked or—eek—completely missing with rigid or flexible stainless steel. (Some people choose to add ceramic fibre insulation as well.) It’s a fiddly job, so budget roughly $2,000 or more for professional installation.
Put a lid on it
“Stone and brick chimneys need regular maintenance, most frequently from the top,” Gulland says. Whether metal or masonry, well-dressed chimneys require a cap to prevent water from mixing with creosote to form a corrosive slurry. Masonry units need an additional cap (also known as a crown), to seal moisture out of the top of the structure and deflect rain away from brick and stonework. A flexible bead of silicone in the “bond break” between the cap and clay liner allows the clay to expand and contract without letting rain in.
The only way to check the crown is to climb up there and have a close look. Because damage is invisible from the ground, “nobody notices the problem until there are bricks lying on the grass and the deck,” Sean Mason says. “We rebuild four or five chimneys a summer. For ninety bricks and a metal cap, you’re looking at around $2,000.”
Find balance
Are you seeing widening gaps between chimney and flashing, roofing, and siding? That’s bad news: your hulking five or six-tonne fireplace could be shifting. “It’s a warning sign,” says Kim Pressnail , a professor emeritus in civil and mineral engineering at the University of Toronto. “You need to find the root cause and solve the problem. You’re dealing with a structure that could kill someone.”
For minor leans, one option is a partial demolition: hire a contractor to lop off the masonry above the roofline (as in photo above), reducing the chimney’s heft so it’s no longer teetering towards destruction. With the base stabilized, a WETT pro can install a fireplace insert and factory-built metal chimney atop the remaining masonry. You’ll likely pay at least $6,000, not including the partial chimney demolition and any additional repairs that the cottage needs from the strain caused by the lean. Aube says a rebuilt or partially rebuilt chimney will run you into the thousands of dollars.
As for shoring up the chimney, options include jacking up and stabilizing the structure, excavating under it and pouring an expanded foundation, or underpinning it with helical piles—metal, augur-like sections that corkscrew into stable soil. These are complex approaches, likely to run well into five figures. You’ll also need to find an experienced mason and an engineer with a good grasp of foundations, structures, and the load-bearing capacity of local soils.
In other words, it can be done. But should it be? Given the time, money, and construction safety challenges involved in righting a chimney with a bad lean, Pressnail says outright demolition and replacement is likely the simpler and cheaper option. “I feel for people who have chimneys with sentimental value,” he adds. “But if you can’t afford to fix the chimney properly I think the best practice is to take it down.”
After a couple of floods over the years, on in August 2020 took out Tom Clark’s deck supports and sidewalk, and shifted the chimney. He hired a crew to take the top half of the chimney down to reduce its weight for safety reasons. The Clarks plan to remove what remains of the 99 year old chimney and rebuild the exterior wall, floor, ceiling, roof and interior wall using materials that honour the spirit and history of the place. Photo by Erin Leydon.
Back at Bruce Beach, the Clark family is grieving their fireplace’s slow decline. “For 15 years, I think we’ve been thoroughly analyzing all the possible options. We’ve been trying to make a decision as a family,” Tom says. The verdict? Three or four years from now, the Clarks will likely gather around a natural gas fireplace. It’s safe, convenient, and much cheaper than restoring the old hearth as if it was a museum piece. But it’s still sad. “It hasn’t been an easy decision,” Tom says.
As for the rounded, glacial stones his great-grandfather assembled in 1922, Tom’s been joking for years that they want to return to the beach. Soon they will. “I want to use them in a decorative, memorial kind of way,” Tom says—maybe as a garden wall, or a bench with a good view of Lake Huron sunsets. Though their time near the fire is ending, the rounded granite, quartz, and gneiss of the old hearth will continue on as links to—and witnesses of—a new century of Clark cottage history.
This article was originally published as “Up in Smoke” in the Fall 2021 issue of Cottage Life.
What is creosote? It’s the tarry remnant of incomplete combustion that fuels chimney fires, and soot, the flammable residue of unburned carbon. The fire code mandates an annual chimney checkup, though the fire code doesn’t specify who must do the inspection. Some insurers require occasional WETT inspections, but in practice many “annual inspections” are probably conducted by cottagers when they clean their chimneys. Nevertheless, it’s a good idea to have a WETT-trained inspector or chimney sweep in to check the system.
Between inspections, here are some of the things you can look for:
The woodstove “dashboard”: Everyday signs of clean burning
1 Glass on woodstove or fireplace insert is clear, or with only a slight haze after an overnight burn.
2 Firebox deposits are tan or light grey.
3 No visible smoke from the chimney when fire is hot.
4 Chimney cap that’s relatively clean and shiny.
The chimney checkup: Looking for creosote deposits
Bad sign: When stage three creosote ignites, “it puffs up to 1,400 times its original volume. It looks like an Aero chocolate bar,” says Zigi Gadomski, president of WETBC. Traces of puffy, black creosote on the chimney cap, roof, or ground could mean you’ve already had a fire.
Other problems: Nests, leafy debris, forgotten tools. “We got a call once: ‘Our chimney’s not working!’” says Yvette Aube, of AIM Chimney Sweep and Stove Shop. “Turned out there was a plastic chimney brush stuck in it.”
Chimney 101: get to know your smokestack
This article was originally published as part of”Up in Smoke” in the Fall 2021 issue of Cottage Life. Read the rest of the story here.
Ready to learn more about how a chimney works? Welcome to Chimney 101.
A chimney’s key attribute is “draft”—its ability to pull air from the stove or fireplace up and out of the cottage. This natural flow through a bed of coals, for example, makes it easier to kindle fires and helps the blaze reach efficient combustion temperature. As a bonus, draft increases as the fire grows. “The greater the temperature difference between the exhaust gases in the chimney and the outside air, the stronger the draft,”says John Gulland, one of the originators of Canada’s Wood Energy Technical Training (WETT) certification program. Likewise, “the taller the chimney, the more draft it will produce.”
The most reliable draft comes from a straight, well-insulated interior chimney that emerges near the highest point of the roof. It’s an express lane for the fire’s heat and combustion gases: they stay hot and ascend quickly. This approach is most common with newer woodstoves and fireplace inserts.
Almost any departure from this straight-up layout will slow the gases and potentially cause headaches. Every 90-degree elbow in the system causes turbulent airflow, allowing flue gases to bog down in transit. Exterior chimneys are cold, whether they’re brick or metal, making gases less buoyant. Chimneys that are too short or vent too close to a roof produce a draft that is weak or unreliable. The results include smoky downdrafts; smoke that spills from the stove when you open the door; and that dank, sooty odour when the fireplace isn’t in use. Worst of all, these layouts tend to accumulate more creosote, making maintenance a bigger concern.
Worried about creosote? Here’s what to look for
This article was originally published as part of”Up in Smoke” in the Fall 2021 issue of Cottage Life. Read the rest of the story here.
